Money for FREE!

Households will be paid cash rewards to invest in small-scale green energy devices, such as turbines, hydro schemes and solar panels. From 1 April, households that use gadgets up to five megawatts in size – the equivalent of two full-sized wind-farm turbines – will be eligible for the cash.

Under the government-backed scheme, any household or community that installs a green energy device like Solar PV Panels will generate money in three ways:

• A flat rate will be paid directly by their energy suppliers.

• Surplus electricity can be sold into the national grid.

• Savings will be made from reduced energy bills.

The rate of return to households under the government’s scheme, which is called “feed-in tariffs”, is expected to be between 5 and 8 per cent annually. Green energy groups pointed out this meant there was more money to be made from investing in Solar Panels than from putting savings in a bank account.

The government hopes it will lead to a revolution in the uptake of small-scale Solar PV roof panels, with one in ten households across the UK generating its own green electricity by the end of the decade. Small-scale generation could meet 2 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs by 2020, say officials. The rate of return to households under the government’s scheme, which is called “feed-in tariffs”, is expected to be between 5 and 8 per cent annually.

The government hopes it will lead to a revolution in the uptake of small-scale Solar Panels, with one in ten households across the UK generating its own green electricity by the end of the decade. Green energy groups pointed out this meant there was more money to be made from investing in Solar Energy than from putting savings in a bank account.